X-COM: Silence Within
by jak3combat
Summary: My name is David Zalian, used to be a Lance Corporal in the USMC. April 1st, 2015, we had official first contact. It... went rather poorly, and I ended up recruited by a group of people only known as X-COM. I have a few suspicions about my new Commander, but I have more pressing things to deal with.


**So, I've recently received XCOM: Enemy Unknown from the Golden Joystick Awards for voting, and I am seriously addicted to the damn game. So much, and just like pone, I have to make a fanfic about it. And as everybody probably knows by now; I cannot help but do pone crossovers, so eh. The pony half will come within a few chapters.**

April 1st, 2015

0938 Hours

Operation Rising Fire

Objectives:  
Repel alien attackers in Afghanistan

Assist US and UN personnel in the area  
Evacuate remaining civilians

Gather any possible intelligence on aliens

"What the fuck are these things?!" Gunnery Sergeant Ramirez shouted of the reports of our rifles and Frank's M249. I was going to reply, but had to focus my attention on mowing one of the spider-like... _creatures_ down with my M16A4. With a shriek that shouldn't come from an insect, it collapsed to the ground and didn't get back up, merely twitching from where it lay. "Renalt, do you see anymore? Over."

_ "I don't see anymore of the creatures at the moment, sir. When I get eyes on, you'll be the first to know. Over."_ One of the platoon's snipers, Corporal Joshua Renalt, answered after a moment.

"Roger that, Corporal." Sergeant Ramirez looked around the intersection we were tasked with holding until the heavy armor could get here, before turning to me. "I know you're not with my squad Corporal Zalian, but I need somebody to scout ahead and check the status on the tanks."

"Sergeant, at this point I'm pretty sure the insurgents would follow your orders." I couldn't help but make a small grin. "Will I have somebody with me or am I going to need to run faster?"

Ramirez looked at the rag-tag defenses we threw up in about five minutes, before waving over another rifleman. "Johnson, you and Zalian here need to go find the tank convoy and report their position." Johnson looked at me and nodded, wiping a bit of blood from his goggles. "Renalt, I need you to provide over watch for Johnson and Zalian as best as you can. Over."

_"I copy you sir, I'm ready as soon as they are. There's also a few skinnies coming your way from the southern street, ETA thirty seconds."_ He answered, causing Ramirez to shout some orders, the defensive line shifting to meet the tall, human-like X-Rays.

"Let's get going, Johnson." I told the PFC, who gave me a thumbs-up and followed closely as I sprinted down the eastern street, going towards the outskirts of this shit-hole city.

A few blocks down the road, an explosion of green fire blew both me and Johnson off of our feet. I slammed into the top of the car with enough force to send me through through the roof, while Johnson landed on his neck with enough force to instantly snap it.

_ Fuck!_ I thought as my ears rang from the blast, slowly moving to get out of the car. As I crawled forward, I saw some soldiers pile out of an odd-looking aircraft, uniforms sorta like mine but not completely identical. They carried an assortment of rifles, ranging from an RPD to what looked like an H&amp;K G36K.

As I slipped down to the dusty pavement, two of them gunned down some of the short, gray creatures, while a third one sprinted over to my position, an UMP-45 in one of her hands.

"Hey, you alright?" She asked, though it sounded like I was underwater. I tried responding, but I couldn't get my voice to work, so I shook my head instead. "Just checking to see if you're alive, considering how bad the plasma hit you." Plasma? At least I had something to call it, instead of just 'green fire'. "Hold still, this'll help you." With that, she pulled an odd red box with a white first aid cross on the side, before spraying some gas over my back.

Almost immediately, I felt a little better. Not enough to get up and run around the city, but better than the mind numbing pain that I was experiencing a moment ago.

"T-thanks." I gasped out, unsteadily getting to my hands and knees. She helped me the rest of the way up, and maneuvered my right arm around her shoulders. "What unit are you with?"

"Classified." She replied. "Sorry, but I can't say."

"Area's clear, no more hostiles." A black man called out, before kneeling next to Johnson. "Poor bastard didn't make it."

"Rest of... my group's up that road." I called out, wheezing and coughing up a bit of blood. "When the two of us left... They were about to engage some skinnies." Lord, I felt faint.

"Describe the skinnies, soldier." He came up to me and looked me over, before gently taking my rifle. I hadn't even noticed, but the barrel had melted off completely.

"About two meters tall, limbs were unnaturally thin and they were extremely flexible... When shot to death, they exploded into a poisonous gas cloud." I described, knowing that the gas they emitted was poisonous due to Master Sergeant Callisun was enveloped by it earlier and she quickly choked to death, blood spraying from her mouth as she coughed. He nodded and looked at the woman holding me up.

"Take him back to the bird, we have a few rifles in there for him. You and Xerox stay here and provide security detail for the Skyranger until we return."

"Yes sir." She gave a nod, before leading me back to the aircraft. "Grab a rifle and take a seat, Xerox or I will call if we need assistance."

Almost drunkenly, I pulled what appeared to be a Mosin-Nagant off of a rack of various weapons, before heavily taking a seat. A few moments later and I couldn't keep my eyes open, probably because of the blood loss I experienced.

April 1st, 2015

1358 Hours

Operation Rising Fire

Results:  
Operation: Success

Civilians Evacuated: 67 out of a reported 75

Military Encountered: 10 US, 20 UN (2 brought back to base)

XCOM Operatives Dead: 3 out of 24

Encountered Military Dead: 70 out of 100

Aliens Encountered:  
Thin Men  
Sectoids

Chryssalids

Items Retrieved:

Thin Men corpses

Sectoid corpses

Chryssalid corpses

Weapon fragments

Light Plasma Rifle

"Ugh..." I groaned as I came to, slowly regaining feeling in my body.

"I was wondering when you'd wake up." A voice said after a moment, and I heard the rustling of some papers. "Lance corporal David Zalian, correct?"

"Yeah..." I groaned, before coughing. "Could I have some water?" Some footsteps.

"Here." He said, the unknown person putting a cup to my lips. "Just drink a little, you'll choke otherwise." I did as he suggested, slowly drinking until he pulled it away. "How do you feel?"

"Like a grenade went off behind me." I muttered, causing him to chuckle a bit. "Where am I?"

"Well, I can't tell you the exact details..." He trailed off for a moment while I heard extremely faint talking. "Unless you accept an offer, I can only tell you the bare minimum."

"What's the offer?" I asked as I finally felt enough strength to open my eyes. I opened them slowly, because of the harsh light in the room.

"I'll let the Commander tell you that." An Asian man chuckled a bit, before patting me on the shoulder and moving onto another patient, who was covered in burns as well.

"Good morning, Officer Bradford." One of the doctors said as a new person entered the room. "Are you here for our guest?"

"That's correct, Dr. Wilhelm." He said with a nod, before walking over to the foot of my bed and standing at parade rest. "How are you doing, soldier?" He politely asked, looking me over.

"I could be worse off." I said with a shrug, before coughing a bit. I had been awake for about an hour, and my throat wasn't at the level of the Sahara anymore. "The doc said I should be on my feet in a day or two."

"Well, I came here on behalf of the Commander, who wasn't able to make it." Bradford rubbed his hands together. "She wants to make you an offer."

"I heard about that already." I chuckled a bit. "What's the offer?"

"Join our agency, dubbed XCOM." He said. "What you went up against in Afghanistan wasn't a freak accident; we've been fighting these creatures for about a month now. Though what happened to you was one of the first cities that these aliens have actually attacked; most of the time the encounters were isolated events out in the woods or on farms. They're shifting their tactics, and we need more soldiers to counter them."

"Before I make my decision, can I know what happened to my group?" I asked, already fearing the worst. The look on Bradford's face confirmed my suspicions.

"Most of them were KIA, though one trooper made it out with some light injuries. He's accepted the offer already, and been put into a base security unit for a few weeks until he's learned the ropes." He explained.

_ At least SOMEONE besides me made it out alive._ I thought to myself, before contemplating my situation. "What happens if I refuse the offer?"

"Nothing serious; we'd just put you in an area on base until you're deemed to be put back out into the world." At my look, he chuckled a bit. "It's not a prison; we just house people that we picked up on missions and keep them for a month or two, before dropping them back off in their hometown or nearby. You'd be perfectly safe." I took a moment to think out my plan, before looking him dead in the eye.

"Lance Corporal David Zalian reporting for duty, sir." And with as much dignity as a Marine could have while lying in a bed and only covered with a hospital gown, I saluted him.

"Get some rest kid, you'll need it." Bradford gave me a small salute back and left, allowing me to collapse back onto the bed, stifling a groan.


End file.
